The Ed Sheeran Ecosystem
Ed Sheeran, the unlikely red head from Suffolk who became an international super star. How did he do that? Funny you should ask because I’ve been looking into it...
This week I’ve been thinking a lot about Ed Sheeran. Yeah, that’s the right. The unlikely red head from Suffolk who became an international super star. How did he do that? Funny you should ask because I’ve been looking into it and the short response is ‘a healthy creative ecosystem’. The longer response is that it began with middle class parents who worked in the arts.
Having supportive parents / carers is key to any career but it's just one of many moving parts. In Ed’s case his parents worked in the arts at a time when things were going well (compared to now). These days because the pay is so low and prices have gone up people are leaving the sector because they simply can’t afford to work in it anymore. Therefore, the chances of you having parents / carers who not only understand the value of the arts but also work in the sector are very slim.
Ed’s parents moved little Ed from West Yorkshire to Suffolk where they packed him off to the local church choir at the age of four.
Access to music from a young age would have been pivotal in helping Ed figure out what he loved to do (write and sing songs). Many white churches are struggling to engage young people and attendance is poor which means less opportunities to join free community groups like church choirs. Black churches have done a much better job of this. Take Femi Koleoso (Mercury Award winning musician); his dad is a senior pastor at a church in Enfield where Femi has been heavily involved (as a musician) from a young age.
Ed went on to attend a private school till the age of eleven when he started to learn the guitar.
A great education with good facilities and lots of extracurricular activities always helps. The decline in arts subjects means that music is more or less off the table for most young people attending school. We know this because as mentioned in a previous post there’s been a 47% drop in pupils taking arts subjects at GCSE level since 2010.
Ed’s experience of the arts at his local state school led him to audition and pay for summer camps with the National Youth Theatre and British Youth Music Theatre. Brief fun fact: Ed was in a production of Frankenstein for the British Youth Music Theatre in 2007 while I was working for them which means I can say that I saw a spotty teenage Ed Sheeran live before he was famous.
Access to external organisations where you can experience a higher standard of training from people working in the industry is super important to ensuring you develop your skills early on. Ed was in the fortunate position that his parents could pay for him to audition and then attend the aforementioned summer camps. Most people can't afford to do that which means relying on access to free places and projects instead.
There are a few barriers here: budget cuts in schools has meant cuts to creative extracurricular activities; often children and young people have to travel to attend free projects delivered by external organisations which they’re less likely to do if they’re from a low income family; and funding has become much more competitive which means that there are less free places and projects available for children and young people as more external arts organisations tighten their belts.
While Ed was at school, he was releasing his own music, playing small venues and working as a guitar technician.
Today it’s easier than ever to release your own music but getting it heard is a whole other process that involves trying to understand ‘the algorithm’. Meanwhile, as I’ve also mentioned in a previous post, at least one small venue has been closing every week in the UK since 2023, which means any future Eds are going to have a hard time getting the experience they need to develop their voice and style.
Ed went on to study Artist Development at Access Creative where he spent a year learning about the music industry before moving to London to study music at the Academy of Contemporary Music. He continued to play small venues and immerse himself in the London music scene before dropping out of his course to support hip hop artist Just Jack and later rapper Example. His big break was on the late Jamal Edwards’ YouTube channel SBTV which helped him get noticed by a much bigger audience online.
Today, music colleges are having to work hard to secure new students because music isn’t seen as a viable career, not that it ever was but particularly now. Then there’s moving to London (or any other big city) where even if you’re lucky enough to find a place to rent you’ll probably have to sell your granny for it. This has a knock-on effect on the ecosystem with less opportunities to meet other artists and creative entrepreneurial types to collaborate with.
The government estimates that the creative industries generated £126bn in 2022 (5.6% of the UK economy for that year). In real terms this means that it was 12% bigger in 2022 than before the pandemic and 50% larger than in 2010 (House of Lords Contribution to Arts and Society & Creative Industries Council).
Additionally, the soft power of the UK’s creative industries is still significant (we are ranked number two in the 2024 Brand Finance Global Soft Power Index) and a recent McKinsey report claims the arts in the UK is still 'recognised globally for its quality, diversity, and innovation'.
However, despite all this I don’t think people have been thinking about Ed Sheeran enough. Because if they were thinking about Ed Sheeran they would understand that the UK creative industries will soon become irrelevant if they continue to take big chunks from the hand that feeds it. In the 1960s and 1970s the UK’s creative output was world renowned and many of those artists came from working class families. They got their start thanks to brilliant music and arts teachers in great state schools and later art colleges, which were part of the powerful post war engine to enable social mobility (for more on this check out Andrew Marr's New Statesman video HERE).
The engine has been faltering for many years now which means that soon there will be far fewer Ed Sheerans coming through the pipeline. While you might feel an initial relief at the prospect of this, his path is a well-trodden one that has gradually been eroded away with little opportunity for anyone to follow in his footsteps, ginger or otherwise.
My question to you is what ecosystem do you care about and what could you do to help feed it?
What I’m reading: It’s been a slow couple of weeks on the reading front so no change here.
What I watched: A brilliant short video which helps to explain Sir Partha Dasgupta’s very long report commissioned by the UK Government. It has revolutionised our understanding of biodiversity’s value and challenged us to rethink how we measure economic success. My favourite bit is where he likens our current approach to a football team that only count goals scored and not goals conceded. You can watch it HERE
What I listened to: Lara Jones, Echo Juliet and Sans Soucis all have new singles out now
Tech I’m using: The ChatGPT app is now beginning to make Google Search look obsolete.
Trending down: See above.
Trending up: Not Another Jungle is a new plant shop in Bedford, at least I thought it was but then I popped in the other day and found out that the owner has a casual 250k following on Instagram, was selling rare plants for up to £50,000 during the pandemic (when everyone got a bit obsessed with interior design) and dressed Westminster Cathedral last year.
Till soon!
Jennie x
P.S. Here are some ways you can work with me:
· 1:1 or small group coaching for ambitious purpose-driven creatives to gain clarity, confidence and motivation so they can make more money to reinvest in their careers, businesses and communities. Check out some testimonials HERE.
· Workshops and masterclasses that achieve meaningful outcomes through playful ways. LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is one way, but I have other tricks up my sleeve. To find out more book a call with me HERE.
· Workshops for children between 4-8 years old exploring feelings of courage, fear and loss honestly, sensitively and most importantly playfully. They accompany my children’s book, ‘Becoming Brave’. More info can be found HERE.